SINGAPORE – Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has unveiled the largest budget in his nation’s history replete with measures aimed at lowering the cost of living through subsidies and direct cash payments, even as his three-month-old administration claims to be trying to narrow the fiscal deficit. The record 388.1 billion ringgit (US$87.5 billion) spending plan […]Continue Reading
China’s Ministry of Finance has reportedly asked state-owned enterprises to stop using the four biggest accounting firms due to data security concerns. Offshore subsidiaries will still be allowed to use the Big Four auditors but their parent companies will have to hire local Chinese or Hong Kong accountants when their current contracts expire, Bloomberg reported […]Continue Reading
As Russia faces Western sanctions, China seeks to deepen Sino-Russian economic tiesby boosting trade and switching to deal-settlement in their own currencies. Chinese media columnists say Russia and China have already strengthenedtheir relations – by giving a green light to a natural gas project called the Far Easternroute. They add that China would also sell more […]Continue Reading
The US and four dozen other countries have imposed punishing sanctions on Russia in reaction to its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The sanctions were unprecedented in their scope and severity for an economy of Russia’s size. The initial sanctions included the freezing of Russian assets abroad and a ban on the export […]Continue Reading
The EU is preparing to abandon its longstanding restrictions on state aid to take on US and Chinese subsidies over green technologies. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is spearheading a new commitment from EU leaders to “act decisively to ensure its long-term competitiveness, prosperity and role on the global stage.” She has talked […]Continue Reading
The share of Australia’s total goods exports going to China fell to 27% in June 2022, a sharp decrease from 46% just a year earlier. While some commentary has heralded this as a success for Australian diversification away from China, it is more accurately described as a redirection of trade flows. “Australia’s trade diversification away from China […]Continue Reading
As recently as the 1970s, the United States and North Vietnam were waging a war that claimed 58,000 American lives and a million or more Vietnamese lives, including many civilians. Today Vietnam is one of the largest markets for US ag exports, ranking seventh, eighth or ninth in recent years. It’s not that the war […]Continue Reading
Climate change policy has entered a new era. The growing row between the United States and the European Union over the impacts of the new American green subsidy regime makes that all too clear. Yet in many ways, this story is ultimately about China. For the last 20 years, developed countries have used three main […]Continue Reading
The Russia-Ukraine war has exacerbated an energy crisis that directly affects the costs of heating, cooling, lighting and mobility, and indirectly pushed up the costs of other goods and services throughout global supply chains. While all households are affected, they are affected in different ways depending on their income, how they spend their money, and […]Continue Reading
US private equity firms funded a scant $100 billion in new deals during 2022’s fourth quarter, barely more than a third of the 2021 peak, the website EY.com reported. The trade group blamed “lingering impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, rising interest rates at home, and conflicts abroad” for the poor showing. Private equity commitments in […]Continue Reading